Martin Luther — "After the devil himself, there is no worse folk than the pope and his followers."
After the devil himself, there is no worse folk than the pope and his followers.
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About Martin Luther (1483-1546)
German theologian whose 95 Theses (1517) launched the Protestant Reformation and broke the Catholic Church's monopoly on Western Christianity. Closely associated with Philipp Melanchthon (Lutheran systematizer) and John Calvin (later Reformer who built on Luther's break). For an intellectual contrast, see Pope Leo X, Renaissance pope (1513-1521) — Leo X's indulgence sales triggered Luther's break and Leo excommunicated him in 1521 — Luther's entire Reformation is structured as a direct answer to the indulgence-funded Vatican Leo represented.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Luther is saying that aside from Satan, no group causes more harm than the pope and those loyal to him. He ranks the papal establishment as the single worst human faction on earth, placing them just below pure evil. It is a blunt condemnation framing Catholic leadership not as misguided allies but as spiritual adversaries actively damaging Christianity and deceiving believers under the guise of religious authority.
Relevance to Martin Luther
Luther spent his adult life attacking papal authority after his 95 Theses in 1517 challenged indulgences. Excommunicated by Pope Leo X in 1521, he called the pope the Antichrist in multiple writings and pamphlets. His blunt, scatological insults toward Rome were signature rhetoric. As a former Augustinian monk turned reformer, he believed Scripture alone, not papal decree, held authority, making the papacy his lifelong theological enemy.
The era
The early sixteenth century saw the Catholic Church selling indulgences to fund St. Peter's Basilica, sparking outrage. The printing press spread Luther's German pamphlets rapidly across Europe, fracturing Western Christendom. Princes seized church lands, peasants revolted in 1525, and religious wars loomed. Calling the pope worse than anyone but the devil was incendiary but resonated with Germans resentful of Roman taxation and corruption, fueling the Protestant Reformation's rapid spread through the Holy Roman Empire.
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